Embryogenesis plasticity and the transmission of maternal effects inDaphnia pulex

Hasoon, Megan SR and Plaistow, Stewart J ORCID: 0000-0002-9003-6271 (2020) Embryogenesis plasticity and the transmission of maternal effects inDaphnia pulex EVOLUTION & DEVELOPMENT, 22 (5). pp. 345-357. ISSN 1520-541X, 1525-142X

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Abstract

Understanding how genetic, nongenetic, and environmental cues are integrated during development may be critical in understanding if, and how, organisms will respond to rapid environmental change. Normally, only post-embryonic studies are possible. But in this study, we developed a real-time, high-throughput confocal microscope assay that allowed us to link Daphnia embryogenesis to offspring life history variation at the individual level. Our assay identified eight clear developmental phenotypes linked by seven developmental stages, the duration of which were correlated with the expression of specific offspring life history traits. Daphnia embryogenesis varied not only between clones reared in the same environment, but also within a single clone when mothers were of different ages or reared in different food environments. Our results support the hypothesis that Daphnia embryogenesis is plastic and can be altered by changes in maternal state or maternal environment. As well as furthering our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning parental effects, our assay may also have an industrial application if it can be used as a rapid ecotoxicological prescreen for testing the effect that pollutant doses have on offspring life histories traditionally assayed with a 21-day Daphnia reproduction test.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Embryo, Nonmammalian, Animals, Daphnia, Microscopy, Confocal, Adaptation, Physiological, Embryonic Development, High-Throughput Screening Assays, Maternal Inheritance, Life History Traits, Biological Variation, Individual
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	04 Aug 2020 08:31
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 07:22
DOI:	10.1111/ede.12346
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3096316
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